Amanda was consumed by a peaceful stupor when her phone rang. She groaned and reached around the bedside table for her phone but it wasn't there. That's when she registered the bundle of heat underneath her and she shot up. She scrambled from the bed and grabbed her phone, praying it wasn't anyone from the team, only to see it was Sean. "Hello?" She answers, confused why he was calling her when she hadn't talked to him since he told her he was dropping out of law school and becoming a cook.
"Happy Birthday sis. Well one of them anyway." She rolls her eyes.
"Sean, please tell me you didn't seriously call me at," she takes a quick glance at the clock. "One thirty in the morning to wish me happy birthday when I don't think you've ever told me happy birthday in my life. Not even when we lived in the same house, let alone in the same state."
"Well I'm trying to be a better brother and I just got off work so I thought I'd give you a call before I forgot. We should get together sometime and catch up. I came to the hospital after everything in Georgia but you left without waking Aaron or me and then Kristen was guarding your room and she hates me and wouldn't even take my calls so."
"Right, well as fun as that sounds, I'm going to go back to sleep because we have a case and a missing woman to find so, goodnight and goodbye Sean. Oh, and Happy Birthday." With that, she hangs up and heads to the bed. She shakes Spencer awake. He groans and she has to bite back a giggle as his nose crinkles as she continues to shake him.
"Hmmm," he grumbles.
"Spencer, you have to go back to your room before someone sees. I don't want you to get in trouble," she whispers and he sleepily nods before sitting up. Amanda can't help but stare at him, he's like super hot so who could blame her, as he leans down to grab his boxers and slips them on before grabbing his clothes and digging through his pants to get his room key before leaving, carrying his clothes and dressed in only boxers. Amanda chuckles softly before heading back to the bed, Spencer's lingering scent lulling her back to sleep.
____________
When her alarm goes off at 7, she gets up and takes a quick shower before heading into the station. The team arrives soon after her and they work to find the new missing woman only for her to call them and tell them that she saw the flyers and ran. She gave them her location and the team, as well as some officers, head to the motel she had checked into only to find her gone with the same flyers and a mask with a number two on it. Luckily, this gives the team what they need to know to give the profile. Right before they're about to present it, Amanda notices Dave slip away and turns to her brother.
"Hey, I'm going to go talk to Dave, see if he needs anything, or do you need me for the profile?"
He shakes his head. "We can handle it. I don't think he fully understands that this isn't a one-man show anymore."
"Yeah," she mutters before heading into the room Dave had slipped into only to hear the end of a call with Garcia where he asks her to keep whatever was said between them. The minute the call ends, Amanda speaks up. "You're being shady, why?"
"Amanda, I didn't see you there," he states, avoiding the question.
"Clearly. Listen, Dave. This is a team and a team can't function if we can't trust the members on it. Sneaking around, refusing to input ideas, writing everything down in that notebook of yours while doing things your way won't cut it anymore, okay? We have to work as a team if we want to be efficient and get this woman back safely."
"Sure thing, Amanda." She smiles and leaves, heading back to the group when her phone rings.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Amy. It's James."
"Oh, hey," she says awkwardly, still a little weirded out about him moving all the way to Virginia when she knows he hates the East coast.
"I was just calling to see if you wanted to hang out. Tonight maybe?"
"Sorry but I'm on a case right now."
"Oh, that's cool. Raincheck? We can go to a movie."
"Yeah sure. Bye," she responds before hanging up. She loves James, he's one of her best friends but after last night, she thought that she and Spencer might actually get their chance. She knew they belonged together and it seems as if he had realized it himself. Think of the devil...
"Who was that?" Spencer questions from behind Amanda. She turns and shrugs.
"Just James asking if I wanted to see a movie sometime," she answers when she realizes that nobody knows her better than Spencer. Maybe not even Kristen. If anybody would know if she was fit to lead, it would be him so she opens her mouth to ask when he speaks first.
"Oh, what did you say?"
"Yea," she answers honestly and Spencer feels that same heart-shattering emotion he had felt at the coffee shop. After what had happened between him and Amanda the previous night he thought there might be a chance for him but he should've known he was just kidding himself.
"Hey, can I pick your brain about something?" He nods, not trusting himself to speak as he tries to stop scolding himself for being foolish. "Well, Harrison thinks that I would make a good unit chief and I was just wondering what you thought. I wouldn't be replacing Aaron or anything, I would be assuming Gideon's job. I'm a little worried I wouldn't be good at making important decisions."
If only Amanda had asked at a different time. Spencer had never been a confrontational person but it seemed that when it came to Amanda, all he was good at was hurting her, especially when his brain thought he was protecting himself. This is why, even though he believes she would be an amazing leader, possibly even better than her brother, he tells her differently.
"Honestly Amanda, I think that you're right. You make bad choices in your own life and those are likely to reflect in your professional life as well. In this job, mistakes like that equal lives lost and we can't afford that. We definitely can't afford a leader that might get all of us killed along with more victims," he states before walking away, not noticing the hurt and broken look on her face as he did so.
Amanda shakes her head, realizing that she was stupid to think that she would make a good leader before schooling her features and heading to where everyone was talking. That's when they see the news report.
Somehow the media had found out about the blank masks with the numbers and Aaron was not happy. He was even angrier when he found out it was Dave that called but that was nothing compared to Amanda who Reid had just put into a horrible mood. The two of them pull Dave aside and Emily and Morgan sneak over to the door to hear what they say. Aaron tries to explain it in the nicest way possible but Amanda cuts him off to explain it in a way that Rossi will react to.
"We talked about this earlier, Dave. This is a team. Do you know how to spell team because there sure as hell isn't an I in it? You can't just do things before you talk to the rest of the team because while you've been checking yourself out thinking that you are the only one working this case, we've been figuring out other things that your stupid spontaneous ideas might go against.
"What would you do if your little stunt got the victim killed, hmm? Did you even consider that by calling him impotent he might accelerate his timeline and kill her today in a misguided effort to prove you wrong? That is why we have a team, to ensure things like that don't happen and when you don't work as a team, people get hurt. It's why the BAU has a higher arrest and solved rate now than in the past. The teamwork solves cases. Stupid moves have consequences," she scolds.
Aaron agrees, telling Dave he would've worded it differently but the same message applies when JJ comes in to tell them they have something. Dave follows her and Amanda goes to as well but Aaron grabs her arm to keep her in there. "Is something wrong?"
"I'm fine," she tells him but he shakes his head.
"That was a good speech, Amy, but you're not really the kind of girl to give speeches because you hate leadership positions and you're never that angry over something like that. You're nice to everyone unless they seriously piss you off but you weren't that angry at Dave, so what's wrong."
"Just leave it, Aaron. We have a missing woman to find and an unsub to catch." He nods and the two walk out. Eventually, the unsub calls, and they figure out where he works. Once they go to the building they find him and have to shoot him, almost getting Morgan shot in the process. Luckily, Reid had found his desk and gotten his name. Garcia got his address and they found the missing woman there, so the team got to head home. Reid and Amanda sat on opposite sides of the plane.
Reid was regretting what he had said and trying to figure out how to apologize and Amanda just stares out the window. Eventually, he figures that he needs help and gets Morgan's attention before motioning him over. "What can I do for you, Pretty Boy?"
"I need help with this girl," he whispers.
"Amanda?"
Reid's head shoots up. "Why do you say that?" He questions, voice a few octaves higher than usual.
"Because I have eyes and I can tell you like her. Are you trying to get her to like you back or...?"
"No," he states before realizing what he said and sighing. "I don't need help with that. I said something mean to her that I didn't mean, I just said it because I was upset that she's going on a date with James and I don't want her to hate me."
"Well, that's easy, Reid. Just apologize. Tell her you didn't mean it, that you were upset about something and weren't thinking." He nods his head with a smile before approaching Amanda and sitting across from her, not even noticing that the jet would be landing soon and he had spent nearly two hours contemplating what to say.
"I'm sorry," he tells her and she looks at him with a frown. "I didn't mean what I said earlier at the station, I was just upset and I shouldn't have said it."
"Thanks but the damage is already done, Spencer."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that every time you get upset you take it out on me and I take it and come back every time but the things you say to me hurt because you know exactly how to hurt me. You use that knowledge against me every chance you get and I'm sick of it. You hurt me, again, and for what? Because I agreed to see a movie with James?" He looks down letting her know she's right and she scoffs. "It was just a movie, Spencer, because, after last night, I thought you actually cared about me. But then the sun came up and your true colors shone once again, so thank you for stopping me from making a big mistake again. I just wish I knew before I slept with you."
He stares at her, stunned as he sees just how much his words affected her as she stands up and gets ready to get off the jet that had landed. Everyone piles off and heads back into the building when Amanda's phone rings. She groans getting really tired of her phone ringing as she answers. "Hello?"
"Hello, Amanda."
"Director Adams," she states, wondering why he's calling her.
"Yes. I'm sure you're wondering why I'm calling you. Well, after Harrison called me about his worry for your mental health I had to give you a psych evaluation to determine if you were still fit for duty. I thought the best way to do so was to test you while you were out in the field as an FBI agent. That's how you passed."
"Passed?"
"Harrison didn't tell you that you passed?"
"I wasn't even aware you were evaluating me."
"Well, I called him the eve of Halloween. I assumed he had talked to you. Anyway, there's another case, a bigger one. The Alpha Unit is doing well, your time with them has improved them immensely but they still aren't you and I'd prefer to have the best doing this job. Consider it and get back to me, okay?"
"Yeah," she whispers as everything starts to make sense. Harrison didn't want her working for the CIA, not once he knew how dangerous her job was, which is why he offered her Jason's job. It has nothing to do with her ability to lead and everything to do with convincing her to stay with the BAU. This is why as soon as she gets off the phone with Adams she calls Harrison and she doesn't even need to see his face to know she's right.
He had played her in a way only he knew how, just as Spencer had, and it would've worked if Adams hadn't called her himself. She hated Harrison for that. He had broken her trust, something he hadn't done since they met. Yet he lied to her, made her think that he believed in her when really all he wanted was for her to stay, even if she got innocent people killed doing it.
With that thought in mind, she heads up to Aaron's office and closes the door. "Amanda, what can I do for you?"
"I just got off the phone with the director of the CIA. Apparently, this whole time I've been working here, they've been evaluating me and I passed. He wants me to take an assignment."
"Are you going to take it?"
"I don't know," she answers honestly and he studies her. He wouldn't need to be a profiler to see something is wrong so he sighs.
"Are you sure you're okay?"
And with that, she breaks down. "No, I'm an idiot. Harrison offered me the second unit chief position because Adams called to tell him I passed my evaluation so Sharp fed me this huge spiel about how I'd be great and I should give it a try only for me to find out he just said all that to get me to take it so I'd stay with the BAU. Then on top of the stress of that situation, my ex-boyfriend, who I actually liked very much and still do, moved across the country to be closer to me and tried to play it off as him getting a better job when he took a pay cut and hates the east coast.
"And as I'm sure you've noticed I'm like really in love with Spencer, have been since I was thirteen until I told him I loved him when I was 17 and he said we weren't friends and told me to leave only to supposedly feel really bad about it, so bad that he was a dick to me when I got here the first time only to beg me to stay when I was leaving. Then after the whole Fisher King thing, he said he wanted to be with me but because I'm an idiot I said I moved on and kissed him before saying I felt nothing. After we got kidnapped he said that I wasn't enough to save Evan and that he OD to be rid of me so I punched him and then helped him get clean in rehab and told him about my birthday.
"So last night he showed up at midnight with a cupcake to tell me happy birthday and one thing led to another and we kind of you know, did it, and then I asked him if he thought I should take Harrison's job offer and he told me I'd be a terrible leader because he was jealous I agreed to hang out with James. He then apologized on the jet but it didn't matter because the damage was already done and I don't know what to do and I probably shouldn't have told you most of that."
As she finishes her rant, which she had taken one breath throughout, Aaron stares at her, realizing just how much all this is affecting his seemingly untouchable sister. "I think you should take some time off. A few days to clear your head and make a decision. If you decide to stay with the BAU, you won't have to take Jason's position. We don't need two unit chiefs but if it means anything, I think you would be a great leader. But if you want to go back to the CIA, I won't stop you. As for your personal life, I didn't understand most of what you said because you started to talk really fast so if you want advice you're going to have to repeat everything after ex-boyfriend, okay?"
She smiles for the first time since entering his office and nods. "I think I'll figure that out on my own. Thank you, Aaron." He nods and she leaves, everything on her mind weighing her down with each step.